Cold Hands, Warm Heart

NINETEEN

"There you are, doctor," Cawell said, stepping into the house.

I stiffened. Uh, oh. Here comes my punishment for running off. I handed Farah back to her mother and rose.

"You left before I could show you to your kolba." Cawell stepped closer and held out her hand. I flinched back, awaiting the slap to my face.

Before Cawell could respond, the little girl ran over to me, tugging on my skirt. "Yes?" I asked.

"Thanks for helping us."

"Of course. Come and get me anytime that you, your mother, or your sister needs help, okay?"

She nodded, and I reluctantly followed Cawell outside. The sun had set entirely by now, the song of crickets surrounding us. I awaited her venomous words, the passion that I saw earlier to come back, aimed at me. But we walked in silence.

The silence was what killed me. What is Cawell thinking? Is she making me wait as not to raise suspicion? Is this a part of my punishment? Isolation? My heart pounded in my chest as my thoughts ran wild. A sweat broke out on my skin even though the temperature was close to frosting the grass.

Cawell cast me a glance and frowned. "Dear, are you all right? You're shaking like a lamb's tail."

Shaking?

She took a step closer, and I instinctively backed away. "Wait a minute, are you... afraid of me?"

"No," I said, remembering my father's words: "Never show fear, Khorshid! Do not reveal to anyone that you are weak!" My father used to scream that at me while hitting me. Once when I was younger, I admitted that he terrified me. That fueled his rage, and he spat those words at me.

Her face softened. "My dear, I am not going to hurt you. If you think that I am going to punish you for running off, then you are wrong. I will not hurt you."

I nodded, not knowing if she told the truth. Is it a ruse to get me to lower my guard? We came to a stop at a hut directly next to Cawell's. Cawell let me go in first. Why? The interior was pretty much the same as other ones, but I noticed a chest that looked like my herb chest. Cawell mentioned my house; is this mine?

"Welcome to your kolba," she said. Kolba. Is that what these huts are called?

"This, this is mine?"

"Of course. I told you that you would not be a prisoner here. Part of our agreement is that you get a kolba."

"Agreement?"

"With Dr. Sot and Saeva Cyneric. We had an agreement. They provide us with you and your herbs, and we give you a house and allow Dr. Sot to remain unnoticed when he makes an appearance here."

The room around me spun, forcing me to take a seat on my bed. "Did-did you say Saeva Cyneric? As in the, the former king of Sancia?"

She nodded. "Yes. I'm not sure why His Grace offered up his royal doctor, but..."

His words echoed in my mind, "I will not stop until you pay for what you did, pay for what your family is."

Gwyneira's father knew that he could never convict me when his daughter is on the throne, so he found another way to banish me.

Cawell placing a hand on my knee jerked me out of my thoughts. "I will wake you in the morning with some breakfast. Please do not try to flee in the night."

As I lay on the bed, I couldn't sleep. Not only is the bed very different from mine at the palace, but my thoughts also kept me up. How is Gwyneira faring? What about Dr. and Madame Aitor? Miyu? Now that I know the Grand Duke is behind this, how is he interfering with the investigation?